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SIMON FRASER UN1VERSHYFALL SEMESTER 2007

Thursday: 8:30-10:20 AQ 3150

DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to a number of social mechanisms that

work inside and outside of educational institutions. The social mechanisms to be studied

will be authority, recognition, reproduction, and resistance. The assumption of this

course is that one cannot be an effective educator, nor can one be knowledgeable about

education in general, without thinking about the ways that social mechanisms inform

educational practices. To that end, one of the goals of this course is to encourage fruitful

dialogue about social issues in class discussions, and to encourage personal re-valuing of

some of the ways that we engage with others in educational institutions. This course is

not about a list of facts or certain solutions/outcomes. It is about learning some of the

mechanisms that exist in educational situations, and about becoming aware of the social

dangers and the social benefits that arise during the educational process.

What do you need to participate? You need to be receptive to various perspectives and

thoughts on educational issues. If you can imagine connections between, on the one hand,

educational institutions and all of the things that people do therein, and, on the other, the

social dynamics that get enacted in the world around us, then you will be prepared to

participate in this course. Participation includes voicing your thoughts, completing all of

the readings (they are challenging), and doing the required writings and group projects

under the guidance of your tutorial instructors.

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40% Final paper based on course readings

40% Four essays of 1000 words.

20% Group presentations

Final Paper

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This will be a

12-15

page analysis that is based on course readings. It will be evaluated

according to university criteria. Clear and creative exposition, as well as association of

ideas from your own educational experience and our course readings, are encouraged.

Short Essays

Topics to be discussed.

Group Presentations

A group presentation, showing a dynamic representation of course themes, will be done

in tutorial.

Participation

Attendance and participation are important. Students are expected to attend all lecture

sessions and participate actively in all tutorials.

REQUIRED READING: 5 books, 1 small course reader

Books:

Paulo Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Continuum 2000

Isbn: 0826412769

Athol Fugard

My Children! My Africa!

Theatre Communications Group 1990

Isbn: 1559360143

Jonathon Kozol

Savage Inequalities

HarperCollins Canada, 1992

ISBN 10: 0060974990

Jacques Rancière

The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation'

Stanford UP, 1991,

ISBN 10: 0804719691

Ernst Gaines

A Lesson Before Dying

Vintage Books 1997

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Isbn: 0375702709